Because your eyes, nose, lips, every look...

I suppose I prefer dolls with facial features that don't entirely define a permanent expression. So a face that can achieve a diverse amount of expressions or feelings depending on angle or faceup. My three resin boys each have such different faces...but I think their sculpts can express different sides well, and I really like that.

 

I'm one of the rare creatures like @VampireAngel13 who likes and wants strong and stronger expressions on my dolls. I've got my resin crew in several camps of expression ranging from my Borys (all of them softly pouting and melancholy) to my smirkers (LR Andre and DZ Megi come to mind) to my charming smilers (LM Jeremy, Summerbird Viola) to the grumpus that is Ecchium (and getting grumpier with every iteration). If I get only one more doll this year, i want it to be a cute big open-mouthed smile like FL Pongpong or some of 2D doll's minis...someone who's shouting "YIPPEE" every time I see them. And if I win the lottery and can buy two dolls this year, I want to get a dreamy or romantic sculpt and learn to mod it into something more expressive still.

 

I enjoy a wide range of expressions but I will ALWAYS have a soft spot for depressed or grouchy dolls! They just melt my heart

 

I love Luts Honey Delf Brownie. I might be a little obsessed.

 

I definitely have a thing for larger, half-lidded eyes and pointy noses, but expression wise I seem to prefer fairly neutral... Except in one case. IOS Jaguar, particularly the newer version, is so incredibly perfect for one of my OCs (specifically the jerk I have as my avatar) and I absolutely love that grin of his. I loved his original version too, but the new sculpt is so spot on that he's at the top of my saving list right now... assuming he's ever re-released, as I realize now I managed to miss him.

 

I actually like having a variety of expressions: some bitchy, some melancholy, some with sweet smiles. My Dollits Miso is one of my favorite girls and she has a big open-mouthed smile that some people might get creeped out by. I guess the only expressions I don’t really like are angry or scary faces. Oh and horror. Just not my thing.

I think in general, I like “cute” and softer looking girls. Both stylized and semi-realistic. I also really love big lips, probably because I don’t have them myself.

 

Love the Epik High reference

For expressions, I prefer neutral ones. I just don't really want a doll with an extreme expression as they tend to creep me out a bit. I think neutral expressions are also easier to photograph with different concepts and settings. Slight smiles, smirks, or slight frowns are okay but I haven't fallen in love with anything more. Lately, I've liked looking at dolls that look a bit sly, like Loongsoul's Yu Ze type A or Loongsoul's Alioth, though this can be more so the faceup and angles than the sculpt itself.

I used to think I'd never want a doll with partially closed eyes but now I like them. I like the dreamy look but I also like how with some sculpts/faceups, certain angles can make the doll look more provocative.

 

I honestly like a variety in my bjds' expressions. So much of it's really dictated by the OC's personality that they'll be shelled into. I've got sassy smirkers, peaceful and pleasant, ranty, glum, dour—and the list goes on. I wouldn't even have an issue with exaggerated expressions if it works for a specific character—even horror.

I do have a couple of caveats to this, however. I avoid any sculpt with what I would label as the O Face (or an expression of somebody being physically assaulted) like the plague, as they make me extremely uncomfortable. I also am turned off by extremely wide-eyed sculpts, especially the more stylized or anime-esque ones. Especially if the rest of the facial features are smaller by comparison, or very child-like. Combine that with a small, puckered cheek face and duck lips—no, just...no.

I will say that I'm really drawn to sassy and grumpy expressions. Especially with a furrowed brow or an enhanced curve to the lips. I love long, prominent cheek-boned faces with narrower eyes. And a unique nose—bonus if it's not the usual dainty, clean-lined type that's so prevalent amongst so many company sculpts.

So...yeah—I'm pretty open when it comes to what kind of expression I like. Even when it comes to the types that usually tend to freak people out—if it works for an OC, I'm down with it. I just avoid the ones that leave me feeling uncomfortable. I don't like the look of somebody being eternally tortured, and having large, wide eyes staring at me has been an issue of mine since early childhood.

 

I like my dolls to be mostly neutral/happy, but lately I've been on the look out for those dolls that depending on which side you look them at, they're either smiling/smirking or serious

Spoiler

I find them so peculiar!!

 

I prefer neutral-to-smiling. Just... faces that look like there's a kind, though not weak-willed character behind it.
If I had a big collection I would perhaps get more adventurous with frowny, proud-looking faces or perhaps some dreamy, almost vapid ones. But I don't (yet?), so y'know.

What I really dislike is obviously asymmetrical faces (like smirking to one side, or one eyebrow pulled up), and anything with a tongue showing. For me they're too one-dimensional/snapshot-ish, it'd stop me from thinking of the doll as a rounded character and therefore stop me bonding with them.